A new year

Two steps forward, one step back.

In upgrading my linux pc, I managed to seriously make a mess of things. Fortunately, normal service has now been resumed with a few minor technical glitches. On the plus side my system no longer grinds to a halt when trying to use usb storage devices.

A week or so in to the new year and it seems pretty much like last year, just in a different location. The months are starting to dwindle before my final year exams. More confident than last time as there are fewer unknowns. Who knows? I might find someone that is interested in me.

Alex.

Once more, with feeling

Well, here we are again. Things have progressed a little since my last post. I'm back at university, have a new car (Peugeot 307cc) and finding things are pretty much the same.

My 25th birthday came and went with little fanfare. I don't suddenly feel older; I have always had a very old soul. As usual my friends wanted to go out for drinks to celebrate, which would have meant that I would have had to drive. Nice idea, somewhat lacking in the execution and level of thoughtfulness.

The university is still quite disorganised, although the lecturers are finally making their lectures available on the Blackboard system and can keep sending me emails about tuition fees. They still want to give us assignments that are due in the same week as each other. Not including my individual study, I have two assignments due in a day apart.

I'm still single and that's not likely to change any time soon. It's times like these that I regret leaving America and I can't help but wonder how different my life would be. This time last year I was celebrating Thanksgiving with my girlfriend and her family. So many friends I made, when I was out there, most of whom I will probably never talk to again.

On the plus side, my appetite has improved; the cold weather is making me burn more energy trying to keep warm. I have discovered the joys of high-definition content. Even at 720p the quality and detail looks amazing. My current PC as it stands can just about play it, though it can't handle read / write to the same disk (no torrent downloads / video playing on the same disk).

Let's hope things are different when I write my next post.

Alex.

Catharsis

It has been almost a year since my last post to this blog. There have been ups and downs, laughs and tears. Three months into the new year and I am back to where I started once more.

My health is much improved than this time last year, although I'm am still no where near what I would call fit. Once more I am home alone on a Saturday night with nothing better to do than write to my heart's content.

I'm fairly certain my friends have, for reasons unknown, decided to go out drinking without me. Well, to be accurate, I know they were planning on going out drinking. Whether they decided to exclude me is where my uncertainty lies. Whilst I'm fairly quiet and don't drink all that much, it would have been nice to at least been asked and therefore thought of. So instead, here I am listening to music, writing on my blog and adding new material to my fiction.

It is somewhat disheartening to think I made more friends in the three months I spent in the US than I have done in any other part of my life.

That trip abroad has left me with wanderlust and a desire to see a little more of the world. Now would be a good time to do it, as I will be returning to University in the autumn. The question remains; should I spend the money and live a little or spend the time brushing up on my skills?

My heart says live for the moment, but my head says otherwise. The knowledge I once held has deteriorated somewhat and will need work before I return to academia. There is plenty of work that can be done before then and some hard choices needed to be made concerning the subject options available to me.

Alex.

Online Dating

As I mentioned a while back, I thought I'd try my hand at online dating. After eventually plucking up the courage to email a girl, with whom I thought might share a few interests, I wrote an email.

Nothing too serious, or threatening, followed a couple of guidelines posted on the website's forum and waited for a reply. Considering I'd written a couple of paragraphs I was hopeful that I'd get one. It came about an hour or so later. She deleted the email and removed herself from my favorites list; something I wasn't aware you could do, but I digress. Her response wasn't quite what I imagined. It is written verbatim below:

"yeah, whatever weirdo."

I might be feeling just a touch cynical right now, if not downright crushed. A polite, 'sorry, you're not my type' would have been nicer, but apparently common decency these days in on the decline. Mind you, I should also say that this is a minor improvement; the first two women I emailed read the messages but didn't bother replying.

In case you're wondering why I'm bothering trying online dating, it's simple; I'm lonely. There's no point in trying to call it anything else, it's just a sad fact. Oh well, it appears that I'm going to be single for quite some time.

Alex.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii......

No, seriously. It's not the best name they ever came up with for a console, but it certainly plays well, mostly. I finally had the opportunity to have a quick blast on Nintendo's newest creation; the Wii (thanks Dave!).

Some of the games work really well, the bundled Wii Sports is a good showcase for what the controller can do when utilised properly. Equally, Zelda: Twilight Princess was great fun and graphically the best so far. Unfortunately, some games such as Red Steel aren't so good. What might seem like a good idea on paper doesn't always translate to a game so well.

If you've not already got a GameCube or one of the older Nintendo systems (N64 especially) then it would be worth it just to be able to play the entire back catalogue of games. As it is, the games are a little hit and miss as I've mentioned. Personally, I'm going to buy one just to play Zelda and Smash Bros. when it comes out in a few months.

This all came about when a good friend of mine, Dave, who I hadn't seen in a while called me. I'll be the first to admit that I hadn't been a good a friend as I could have been when he phoned. The reason for his call? His main gaming PC had finally given up the ghost after the best part of four years hardcore gaming and he wanted my advice on what to buy and value for money.

With any luck, the PC rig he buys will last just as long as his old one, if not longer. I had given some thought to updating my gaming rig, although I don't play computer games as much as I used to. Did feel all nostalgic for a while, thinking back to trying to get my old PC to run C&C: Red Alert. Ah well.

till next time,

Alex.

No one ever expects...

To find a large bird of prey in their garden. Lunchtime yesterday, I spotted a large bird in the garden, clutching a (hopefully) dead pigeon in it's claws. My Guide to Local Birds identified it as an adult female Sparrowhawk. Definitely not something you see everyday.

It then proceeded to pluck and eat the pigeon. I have ever only seen something like this on a nature program. Fortunately, I also managed to take some video footage of it as well.

A singularly beautiful creature, despite the fact my dear mother couldn't believe what it was going to do with the pigeon.

till next time,

Alex.

Doing the unthinkable

No, don't panic. I haven't gone off the deep end, at least, not yet anyway. In my earlier post, I reasoned ways of finding a girlfriend. To this end I reasoned that anyone I might meet in a pub or club is likely to be drunk at best, drugged at worse. Thus, it comes to this: I have joined an online dating site. Before anyone asks, no I won't tell you which one.

It probably won't lead to anything, given my luck these days, although of course there is always hope. Though it might be called an act of desperation, I see it as an exercise in bettering myself. If nothing else, it might extend the number of people I can call a friend.

On a different note, I'm currently waiting to hear from the Japanese Consulate about the details of a working-holiday visa. If I'm refused for whatever reason, I will be taking a holiday there for a couple of weeks. Should I be successful, I will be staying in Japan for anything from a few weeks to nearly a year.

till next time,

Alex.